Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Doxycycline Leads to Sterility and Enhanced Killing of Female Onchocerca volvulus Worms in an Area With Persistent Microfilaridermia After Repeated Ivermectin Treatment: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trial.
Ivermectin (IVM) has been the drug of choice for the treatment of onchocerciasis. However, there have been reports of persistent microfilaridermia in individuals from an endemic area in Ghana after many rounds of IVM, raising concerns of suboptimal response or even the emergence of drug resistance. Because it is considered risky to continue relying only on IVM to combat this phenomenon, we assessed the effect of targeting the Onchocerca volvulus Wolbachia endosymbionts with doxycycline for these individuals with suboptimal response. ⋯ ISRCTN 66649839.
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The recent rise in unfilled training positions among infectious diseases (ID) fellowship programs nationwide indicates that ID is declining as a career choice among internal medicine residency graduates. Supplementing ID training with training in critical care medicine (CCM) might be a way to regenerate interest in the specialty. Hands-on patient care and higher salaries are obvious attractions. ⋯ Most intensivists receive training in pulmonary medicine and only 1% of current board-certified intensivists are trained in ID. While still small, this cohort of CCM-ID certified physicians has continued to rise over the last 2 decades. ID and CCM program leadership nationwide must recognize these trends and the merits of the CCM-ID combination to facilitate creation of formal dual-training opportunities.
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Oritavancin is a lipoglycopeptide antibiotic that has been shown to be effective for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs). This antibiotic has multiple mechanisms of action including inhibiting peptidoglycan cell wall synthesis and disrupting bacterial cell membrane, leading to cell death. Oritavancin is highly active against common gram-positive pathogens including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus, vancomycin-resistant S. aureus, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. ⋯ Other than liver enzyme elevation and the occurrence of osteomyelitis, oritavancin has been associated with adverse events similar to those of vancomycin in follow-up for up to 60 days. Patients should be monitored for osteomyelitis and alternate therapy given in the case of confirmed or suspected osteomyelitis. Although oritavancin is an attractive antibiotic to consider in the outpatient area, its efficacy and safety in the treatment of other sites of infection are yet to be established.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Effect of Universal Glove and Gown Use on Adverse Events in Intensive Care Unit Patients.
No randomized trials have examined the effect of contact precautions or universal glove and gown use on adverse events. We assessed if wearing gloves and gowns during all patient contact in the intensive care unit (ICU) changes adverse event rates. ⋯ NCT0131821.
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Donor PTX3 polymorphisms were shown to influence the risk of invasive aspergillosis among hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Here, we show that PTX3 polymorphisms are independent risk factors for invasive mold infections among 1101 solid organ transplant recipients, thereby strengthening their role in mold infection pathogenesis and patients' risk stratification.